"Lawrence Akutagawa" wrote in message
news:In7Xh.4290$ns5.834@newssvr17.news.prodigy.net...
>
> "Piero" wrote in message
> news:f0iuog$avn$1@news.intratec.it...
>> This summer we will go for the fourth time in the USA.
>> Now I'm quite trained on money/tips behaviour, but I want to ask if
>> something changed in the last 3 years...
>> Here in Europe tips are not very common, and generally 'normal' people
>> almost never give tips, so we are not trained to do so...
>> I normally in USA leave 15/18% on restaurants, 2-3$ on buffets with some
>> light table service (like beverages), and 1-2$ on Motel's room every
>> night.
>> I'm in some wrong? Something changed (maybe increased)?
>>
>> Another question: here is normal to pay something (also very cheap, like
>> a cup of coffee) with a 20 or 50 euros bill getting the change back
>> without problem.
>>
>> I remember my wife buying something very cheap on a big family store
>> (something like 'all items for 1$ each') having trouble with a 20$ bill
>> (and also with the language: I'm the only that speaks, in some way,
>> english, and she was alone)...
>>
>> My first thing to do there will be to harvest 1$ bills and 25c coins...
>> It seems that all there works with them...
>> For bigger amounts: credit card...
>>
>> I think you (they) are, maybe, lucky for that...
>> Here we have coins, no bills, for the amount of 1 and 2 euros, and
>> there's a feel that our currency worth less than real (not true: 1 euro =
>> 1.36 US$).
>
> I think you are quite on track, if not just a bit on the generous side.
> If you like the service very much, 20% would be welcomed. If the service
> is abysmal, I've been known to leave two pennies...a much stronger message
> than to leave no tip at all. Be careful and read well...there are places
> with the tip ("gratuity") already calculated into your final bill. To tip
> in addition to that means you are double tipping.
>
> Paying for a cup (or two) of coffee with a 20 or 50 dollar bill will get
> you some suspicious looks. The concern is that you are trying to pass
> counterfeit money, acquiring a large sum of legitimate money in return.
> Better to pay with smaller denominations.
>
> And hold the larger bills against the light - you should see a watermarked
> portrait of the person on the bill itself on legitimate tender.
>
> Here's hoping you have an excellent trip and some good memories....
>
>
>
$20 bills are very common, as that is what most ATM's spit out. So most
places a 20 is readily accepted. 50's are not very common, while 100's seem
to be more common that 50's. Tipping is about correct, but I rarely leave a
tip for the maids in a chain motel for 1 nights lodging.
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